The BE ATTITUDES (part 1)

My college group at church recently started a study on the Beatitudes from Jesus in Matthew 5. This got me thinking, naturally. When asked to discuss the "poor in spirit" and what it looks like in our every day lives, answers such as "humility" and "being thankful always for everything" were common answers. I don't know about you, but when I think of people who are poor, especially poor in spirit, I think of sad people. I think of hurting people whose lives are far from perfect. Being poor means having nothing, and being poor in spirit means lacking in spirit. People who are broken.

I thought, to be poor in spirit in every day life means to take my brokenness and give it all to God. Not ask Him to help me with the things I can control and to take care of the things I can't, but giving it all to HIM.
You see, we're broken people, and being human, we try to pick up those pieces and put them back together in a sloppy manner, often leaving us incomplete or more broken than we were before. But when we become poor in spirit before Christ, we give him our broken pieces, the pieces we've tried to make whole on our own, and the whole selves He created us as. Surrender your whole life to Christ. The good, the bad, the broken- all those pieces belong to God anyway. He was the artist who created you in the first place.

Now, you cannot tell me you're not broken. Everyone is. Everyone's been hurt. EVERYONE has sinned. We're broken humans, no matter what's happened to you in your past. For those of you who are more than broken, let me tell you something. If you've ever read the Beatitudes, you will know that with every situation, there is a blessing. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When you give your broken bits to God, He blesses you. Even still, for so many people, it's so tough to admit brokenness. So, I want to try a little activity with you right now. I want you to tell yourself "I am a broken person and I need help."
Did you do it? Well, even if you didn't, know this: Your brokenness is beautiful. God makes beautiful things come from our brokenness. Have you ever seen a piece of mosaic artwork? Truly beautiful creations made of brokenness. What about a rainbow? It comes AFTER the rain. And gold cannot be gold until it's gone through the fire. Multiple times.

Why, you ask, does God let us go through brokenness and hardships? To shape us. To define who we are as Children of God, seeking Him for refuge. To make us more Christlike. Honestly, you don't know what you learn if you don't take the test. In order to become more Christlike, we have to go through these tests of life to teach us what we need to study more, and what strengths we have that we can improve on.
Our brokenness should not be our defining factor. What truly defines us is what we choose to do with our brokenness. Do you stuff it? Try and fix it yourself? Or do you ask for help and give it to God? He'll take your broken bits and make something beautiful if you let him.